Friday, November 16, 2018
Does a day of games, prizes, face painting, crafts, inflatables, tennis, disc golf and class demonstrations sound like fun for you and your family?
On Saturday, Nov. 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Cigna and Tucson Parks and Recreation presents the 13th annual Family Festival in the Park. The event is free and Reid Park Zoo will have $1 admission. Attendees are also invited to bring non-perishable food donations to support the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.
The event will take place at Reid Park and the Edith Ball Adaptive Recreation Center will host free swimming with an inflatable obstacle course.
Volunteers from Friends of the Reid Park Rose Garden will be giving tours of the garden during the event. There will be entertainment throughout the day and a variety of foods for purchase from local vendors.
Find more information here.
Tags: family , fun , community , park , Reid Park , festival , food , activities , games , prizes , crafts , volunteers , entertainment , Image
This new option provides cyclists with a shorter distance, later start and easier parking than the 75 or 100-mile routes.
For those who don’t know, El Tour de Tucson is an annual event in the Tucson area that has been going on for 36 years. Cyclists make their way around “the loop,” a 130-mile bike path that goes in and around Tucson and Marana.
This year’s loop will end at Armory Park for the Downtown El Tour Fiesta, featuring live music, awards ceremony, a beer garden and plenty of food vendors to refuel.
The Marana route starting line will also have food trucks, information booths
The registration fee for the 25-mile route is $125 for cyclists 15 and older and $44 for those 14 and younger.
Learn more about Marana’s El Tour route here.
Tags: Marana , El Tour de Tucson , Tucson , Cycling , Festival , Downtown , the loop , Marana Heritage River Park , Fiesta , Armory Park , Image
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Ceviche is not something many desert-dwellers eat very often, but one local restaurant is working to mix that up. Villa Peru Restaurant will be hosting its bi-annual Ceviche Festival this weekend that will be offering 12 different types of traditional Peruvian ceviche dishes!
The various Peruvian ceviche dishes will be made to order, combining the freshest seasonal catch, cured with a leche de tigre citrus-based marinade of lime and ají peppers. Different ceviche dishes will include mahi mahi fish, shrimp, octopus, scallops, black shell clams and mushrooms.
Enjoy live music during night-time hours including a guitarist and harp player, while enjoying tasty seafood dishes.
So how does it work? The festival is free to get in and each of the different ceviche dishes are individually priced. It is definitely worth it to head over to the festival as many of the ceviches are not on the restaurant's regular menu, meaning this weekend is your only chance to taste them!
The festival will be on Friday, Nov. 16 and Saturday, Nov. 17 from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Villa Peru Restaurant is located on 1745 E River Road.
Save the date and make a reservation with Villa Peruvian Restaurant by calling (520) 900- 7310 or through the online reservations website.
Tags: food , ceviche , Peruvian , festival , seafood , Image
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Celebrate the season at the Literacy Connects Harvest Festival in the Literacy Garden. The festival is put on by Literacy Connects, International Rescue Committee Tucson and the Pima County Public Library.
The event will be perfect for children with activities including chalk art, an activity with seeds and story time, provided by the Pima County Public Library. The festival will also be handing out free books in multiple languages and features a potluck, with foods of different ethnic backgrounds.
The Literacy Garden has recently planted apple, fig and pomegranate trees to provide shade and fruit. The festival will allow visitors to see the progress of the growing plant-life.
Literacy Connects offers free reading and writing support for children and adults of all ages.
Visit the Harvest Festival at the Literacy Garden on Friday, Nov. 16th from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The event is free and the Literacy Garden is located on 200 E. Yavapai Road, near Prince Road and Stone Avenue.
For more information, visit their Facebook Page.
Tags: reading , literature , garden , children , story time , literacy connects , harvest festival , fall , Image
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Palo Verde High Magnet School in the Tucson Unified School District received a total donation of $1,075.23 as part of the tenth annual Fall Voting campaign through the chain restaurant SONIC Drive-In. The donation funded a variety of learning materials to local public classrooms not only in Tucson, but all over the country.
SONIC Drive-In has been a long time supporter of public school teachers through a program called Limeades for Learning. The program completed its 10th annual Fall voting campaign last month with donations given to two TUSD classrooms and one in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
During the Fall Voting campaign, SONIC customers were invited to vote for inspiring teachers' projects at LimeadesForLearning.com. The projects that earned the most votes received part of the sum in SONIC's $1 million donation. Some of the teachers' projects included materials such as books, new seating, Chromebooks, art supplies and robotics kits.
SONIC's donation helped 945 public school teachers across the country reach their classroom goal. Thanks to voters, SONIC was able to fund 1,900 teacher projects, support 945 classrooms and donate to teachers in 285 cities across 37 different states across the U.S.
To view the full list of public schools teachers whose projects were funded, including TUSD's teacher projects, Click here. And to learn more about SONIC's Limeades for Learning, Click here.
Tags: donation , teachers , TUSD , schools , education , sonic , limeades for learning , Image
Monday, November 12, 2018
Robert Wood, Nicholas Coles and Negin Saghafi of Arizona Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons will announce the recipient of the Second Annual Second Chance Program at their Tucson office on Thursday, Nov. 15 at 9 a.m.
376 people from the greater Tucson area applied to receive a $50,000 smile makeover for this year’s giveaway. The oral surgeons have partnered with Hammel Dentistry in Tucson to create a full upper and lower set of permanent teeth for the recipient.
Last year’s recipient, Christina Bazaldua, had only three teeth and couldn’t eat solid foods. All the while she had to provide for seven children on just a cashier’s salary. Bazaldua said the smile makeover changed her life completely.
Learn more about the Second Chance Program here.
Tags: Tucson , Teeth , Oro Valley , Smile , Second Chance Program , Arizona Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons , Hammel Dentistry , Giveaway , Image
Friday, November 9, 2018
Those entered in the Parade will be judged and awarded trophies in the categories of Senior Color Guard, Junior Color Guard, Senior Marching Unit, Junior Marching Unit, Float (truck and trailer), Decorated Automobiles, Musical Group, Veteran’s Organization, Military Unit and Motorcycle Group.
There are over 100 entrants each year of numerous businesses and Veteran organizations including DMAFB, JROTC, ROTC, Sons of the American Revolution and many more.
Parade participants will start gathering at 8 a.m. and the festivities will continue to about 1 p.m.
The parade begins downtown at West Alameda Street and Granada Avenue. Businesses, parking garages and parking lots will be open. Roads on the parade route will be closed to car traffic during the event. Learn more about this year's parade here.
5 Veterans Day Facts:
1. World War I ended on the 11th month on the 11th day at the 11th hour.
2. President Woodrow Wilson named November 11 Armistice Day in 1919 to honor those who died while serving in the military.
3. In 1945, a World War II veteran, Raymond Weeks came up with the idea to honor all veterans not just those who died in World War I.
4. Veterans Day is both a state and federal holiday in the United States.
5. There are 19.5 million veterans in the United States.
Tags: Veteran's Day , parade , Veteran's Day Parade , Armistice Day , veterans , World War I , sponsorship , awards , United States , Image
Thursday, November 8, 2018
The Humane Society of Southern Arizona (HSSA) are encouraging well behaved and vaccinated dog and cat owners to visit for Pet Santa Photos on Saturday, Nov. 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at HSSA Main Campus on 635 W. Roger Rd.
Come dressed in holiday costumes with your pet or do pet solo photos with Santa! Photos will cost $15 each. All purchases are tax-free and the proceeds will go towards funding in caring for homeless pets at the Humane Society.
"This is one of my favorite events of the year," said Diana Canon, Chief Development Officer. "We bring our dogs each year to get their photo taken with Santa and use it as our Christmas card. It's a great feeling knowing we are supporting the homeless pets at HSSA."
The Humane Society of Southern Arizona has saved over 1 million pets in its 74 years of operation. The shelter takes pets who have serious medical needs and animals who are in need of a home.
To reserve your spot and to get your pets photo taken with Santa, visit http://www.hssaz.org/SANTA or to help volunteer for HSSA visit, http://www.hssaz.org/
Tags: pets , humane society , santa , photos , holidays , HSSA , Image
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
“When was the last time you had a Peanut Buster Parfait?” I asked Maria Bamford.
“It’s been so long,” she replied. “You’re reminding me that I need to get back to the true path.”
The Dairy Queen treat comes up at least twice in Bamford’s work. In one standup bit, she demands a Peanut Buster Parfait from a friend, calling out the layers in a drill sergeant’s voice: “Hot fudge, peanuts, ice cream, hot fudge, peanuts, ice cream!”
In a scene from her NetFlix show Lady Dynamite, her character falls into a serious depression, and her father offers to take her out for a Peanut Buster Parfait.
I have a history of both mental illness and Dairy Queen employment in my family, so I’m sold on Bamford’s humor. I especially like the way she normalizes her bipolar diagnosis, since, for many of us, mental illness is normal.
In standup sets, Bamford pencils a family history of violence into a game of “emotional sudoku,” sings a deadpan song about her couples’ therapist and describes a psych ward in the voice of a set designer expertly arranging the broken chairs and puzzles with missing pieces. The current tour features all new material on marriage and religion.
Bamford told me that her humor about mental illness is successful because “the audience is down for it.”
She also explained the source her fabulous voice work, which includes dead-on impressions of business executives, teenagers, and hungry raccoons. “It started when I was a kid watching TV. It developed out of a need to be heard,” she explained, “the idea that if you change your voice the odds might be better that you’ll be heard because of the surprise factor.”
Since Tucson Improv Movement offers beginning improv and comedy courses, I asked Bamford what advice she would give new comedians.
“You just start,” she explained. “Tell yourself a little story you think is funny. Talk for five minutes and you do it over and over again. You add that five minutes to another five, and soon you have an hour.
Tags: Maria Bamford , Molly McCloy , The Rialto Theatre , Tucson Improv Movement , TIM , Tucson Comedy Arts Festival , TCAF , tucsonimprov.com , rialtotheatre.com , Lady Dynamite , Dairy Queen , Peanut Buster Parfait , emotional sudoku , hungry raccoons , Image
The event takes place on Saturday, Nov. 10 and features a half-mile fun run as well as a 5 and a 10k race.
Check-in starts at 6:30 a.m. The half-mile fun run starts at 7:15 a.m. and the 5 and 10k races start at 8 a.m. Early registration prices are $10 for the fun run, $20 for the 5 or 10k for adults and $15 for kids 12 and under. Shirts will also be available for $8 at the event.
Runners are also encouraged to bring non-perishable food items for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Association who will be taking donations at the event. Donors will be entered into a raffle to win prizes.
Feel free to run, walk or roll for the Turkey Trot at Crossroads at Silverbell District Park. Go fast and you can eat to your heart’s desire come turkey day!
Learn more here.
Tags: Marana , Turkey Trot , 5k , 10k , Fun Run , Silverbell District Park , Tucson , Pima County , Race , Run , Fitness , Thanksgiving , Holidays , Raffle , Image
